***Thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, mcdinh, Ulrich362, OBSERVER01, MrtheratedG, Demons Anarchy of Pride, The Worldwalker, Republic (twelve times), 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Altair718, MM Browsing, asaxander740, and Jarjaxle, the thirteen people who reviewed the previous chapter, and EXTRA special thanks to Altair718 since they reviewed chapters four through twelve as well!***

Guest Review Reply - The Worldwalker: You have the right idea… except it won't necessarily be Nunnally that Euphy recognizes. Heh. Read this chapter if you want to know exactly what ends up happening, obviously.

Guest Review Reply - Republic: …What would happen if Kallen became Zero's second-in-command instead of Ohgi? Hm. That's an interesting question… I really don't know. I feel like Kallen going around fighting in the Guren all day fits her a lot more than being second-in-command. But there is one thing that would definitely be somewhat better in that case: Kallen's definitely a lot more confident than Ohgi, so there'd at least be a bit of a morale boost. As for how that would change her relationship with Zero/Lelouch… I don't know.

Author's Note Part 1: So… the hotel hijacking is now, along with the debut of the Black Knights. Fun. I don't have much to ramble about, so I'll just go ahead and start.

I don't own Code Geass, though!

Stage 14: The Black Knights

He had the support of Kallen and the rest of her group. Z.Z. and S.S. had successfully procured themselves new masks, and also the disguises they would all need in order for his operation to work. If Euphy still ended up a hostage, or if Kusakabe ended up not capturing the hotel, then he would have over prepared for nothing. Still, those plans needed to be in place in case of the worst, and it would be better to be safe than to be sorry.

Especially if I'm casting Nunnally into the fray…

And that fact was exactly why Lelouch asked Sayoko to come with them. He trusted in his own power—he would not hesitate to use it if one of the JLF threatened Nunnally—but he had to be prepared for someone he could not make eye contact with for some various reason. He needed there a way for Nunnally to be safe, no matter what happened, and Sayoko was likely the only person he trusted for that role outside of Suzaku.

Thankfully, he hadn't needed to argue with Milly to allow the extra person to come; she had actually agreed wholeheartedly on the change.

The only thing he had left to do was resign himself to wearing the suit part of his costume underneath his normal clothes. It would all fit at least, but he expected to end up dreadfully hot underneath all those layers. If only it was supposed to be a cold day…

He finished folding up Zero's cape, placing it in the bag he would pass off to Z.Z., and went to reach for his mask… only to discover it wasn't where he had set it down after taking out the entirety of his costume. For a split second, he worried that Arthur had somehow made off with it again, but knew it was an impossibility and shot that idea away immediately.

No, it seemed that C.C. had chosen to take the Zero mask while he had not been paying attention. She reclined on his couch, tossing it up and down with one hand while she stared back at him. Lelouch swore he saw a slight smirk on the immortal's face while he glared at her. "Alright, you had the chance to hold my mask. I do need it now, C.C., so give it back. Please."

"What would you do if I said no?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. He couldn't threaten to kill or hurt her; those sorts of threats meant nothing to C.C. But she did have one weakness… "I'd take away the credit card I gave you to buy pizza with."

C.C. stopped tossing the mask, instead letting it sit in her lap. "You would, would you? Hm… then I suppose I'll have to find someone else to buy me pizza…"

"I'm not joking, C.C. Give me back my mask!" If only he could Geass her… that would make getting back his mask much less of a handful. "Why do even want it in the first place?"

"I wanted to get your attention, and it seemed that I did." Her finger traced the glass absentmindedly while she spoke. "I can't have you dying before you fulfil our contract, Lelouch. You put far too much trust in those two immortals…"

"Oh, are you jealous now?" he teased.

C.C. chuckled once. "Hardly. I just… can't quite place my finger on it. They both feel off somehow…"

He nodded in agreement. He knew S.S. and Z.Z. were hiding something from them, but could never figure out what. Something about their actions always struck a chord with him… What am I doing? She's distracted me from getting back my mask, damn witch! He held out his hand, towering over the seated woman. "C.C. The mask, now."

She looked up at him lazily, though her grip tightened on the mask. "You can't order me around, Lelouch, and I've decided that I want to have this mask."

His eye twitched, hands curling into fists even though he knew he would only succeed in hurting himself if he tried to punch C.C. Why is she so insistent about this? "Look C.C., I'll make you your own if that's what you wish. I need that mask right now or else Milly will get suspicious about what is taking me so long to get ready. Why don't you want me to have it?"

"Are you deaf? I said it's because I need you alive in order to fulfil our contract."

"And you think I'm going to die at Lake Kawaguchi?" He laughed at the thought. "I am prepared to use my Geass on anyone who would try to harm me… and Sayoko will be with us as well. Don't underestimate her ability to protect those whom she serves." He didn't think that would be enough to convince her, and that meant he had to play a certain card of his earlier than he would have liked. "Not only that, but once I establish the Black Knights as a fully functional group, I'll allow you to join its ranks. That way, you don't have to laze around in my room all day; instead, you can participate in the action and make sure I stay alive."

"Hmm… a tempting offer…" She did not sound convinced.

If I wasn't short on time, I would save this for another time… "Then how about this? I'll allot a fraction of the Black Knights budget every month to buying you pizza. Certainly that should please you."

He got his mask back after that.

For all of his over preparation, something Lelouch hadn't expected… ended up happening. Oh, he had expected Sayoko to pull out her kunais and use them to disarm—or kill—as many members of the JLF that would dare threaten them as she could. Lelouch had not accounted for the fact that none of those Japanese soldiers wanted to fight her, much less want to kill her for fighting back. How he had not figured out she was the head of the Shinozaki clan, he had no idea.

No, what he had not expected was the way Kusakabe decided to deal with Sayoko—he let her walk right out the front door of the center… with Nunnally. He at least had enough compassion to not want to traumatize a blind and crippled girl. This fact, while Lelouch had not expected it, worked for the better. As much as he hated to admit it, his sister was safer in Britannian hands than inside of the hotel.

And he had one less thing to worry about in the cramped food storage room.

"I'm Kusakabe of the Japan Liberation front. This stand we're taking is for the freedom of Japan! Even though you are not soldiers, you're still Britannians—the ones who rule and oppress us! Sit still, be quiet, and you'll be fine. If you don't…" He gestured to his soldiers' guns. With that, he took up his katana and left the storage room. Two soldiers stayed behind, keeping a close eye on the hostages.

Rivalz was to his left, staring at his hands while he twiddled his thumbs. Every once in a while he'd glance over at Milly, likely to see how she was doing. Hopeless romantic… Shirley was to his right, with Kallen the other side of her. Both seemed to be panicking, though Shirley was the one who tried to hold onto his arm for comfort, and Kallen's fear was entirely fake… he hoped. There was always the chance that she was afraid of something backfiring…

No. Nothing would backfire. He'd prepared too much for that.

Of his friends, Milly was the only one who did not have fear written all over her. Granted, that might be because she was putting on a strong face for Nina. The poor girl who almost had to be dragged along was on the verge of tears, quivering in Milly's arms.

…Right, she's severely xenophobic. I wonder how she acted during the hotel hijacking in the previous worlds if she was a part of it…

Hypothesizing about other worlds would serve him no good. He needed to be ready for whenever Z.Z. and S.S. were in position, and he had no idea how long that would take. They were having to sneak around undetected—however they decided to pull that off—with a smoke bomb they could not let go off before they found this room…

When he was certain neither of the guards were watching him, Lelouch spared a glance at the hostages behind him. Most of them were adults, and the politicians that debated over Sakuradite, though there were several children even younger than Nunnally mixed in. He also saw the six other members of the Black Knights—Ohgi, Inoue, Yoshida, Minami, Sugiyama, and Tamaki—disguised as Britannians with the masks Z.Z. had bought two days ago, and scattered throughout the room. And, much to his dismay, he was able see Euphemia on the opposite side of the room as he. Even more so when she met his gaze for a fleeting moment.

Shit… she saw me. Did she recognize me, though? It's a possibility… but unlikely. The whole world thinks that Lelouch vi Britannia is dead—Euphy is no exception to that. He held in a sigh of frustration as he turned back around. Looks like I could have "followed the script", so to speak. Oh well… this way is far more interesting.

Of all the days to have to work…

Suzaku watched the news disdainfully while he waited nearby Lake Kawaguchi. He hadn't received any orders from the Viceroy, but he was still on standby just in case. Suzaku really did not want to be there, though; he wanted to be inside of the hotel because that way he could protect his friends from school… and Euphy. But… where's Nunnally? In the video provided by the JLF showing off who they had hostage, he could not see her at all. Either she was somehow not a hostage, or… No. No, Nunnally has to be fine. Lelouch doesn't look much different from normal. He'd either look absolutely dead or have gone ballistic if something happened to her.

His phone rang, an abrupt shrill to drag him out of his thoughts. He checked the screen and froze—the caller ID read "Nunnally". After that split second of hesitation, he answered it. "Hello…?"

"Oh, Suzaku, I know you're working right now but… but I just… Have you seen the news?" It was indeed Nunnally on the other end.

"Yeah, I'm watching it right now…" he replied. "Where are you, Nunnally?"

"I-I'm not sure. They let Miss Sayoko and I go…" Nunnally paused for a moment; Suzaku still heard her voice, but it was too muffled to make out what she was actually saying. Maybe asking where they were…? "Oh, okay. Suzaku, we're on the shore close by the woods… Miss Sayoko didn't want to risk me being found."

It pained Suzaku to think that his two closest friends in the world constantly had to watch their backs… metaphorically speaking. "Alright then, stay there. I'll be over as soon as I can."

"H-Huh? But I thought you were working…"

"My superiors are still running the adjustments, and I can't do anything until they're done. They can deal with me talking a short break." He tried to sound light when he said that, but really couldn't. Not as long as the rest of his friends were in danger… and probably because Lloyd would have his head if his precious "devicer" was missing and orders came in to deploy Lancelot, not to mention the likelihood of him getting in extreme trouble if those orders did come and he was not at his post. "I'll be over in a few minutes. See you, Nunnally."

"Alright… see you soon."

He figured out a possible answer to his earlier question of what the previous incarnations of Nina did in this situation after maybe an hour of being holed up in the storage room. The one guard circling the hostages stopped for a moment directly in front of Lelouch and his friends, bending down to scratch his ankle.

While the man did that, Nina scooted as far away as she could while whimpering, "A-An Eleven…"

That was clearly not the right thing to say in a situation like this one. The man instantly had his gun pointed at her. "We're Japanese, not Elevens!" he snarled at her.

All the girl could do was make a muffled squeaking sound in response.

"Stop it! Can't you see that you're scaring her?"

Milly. Of course you'd be the one trying to order the people who are holding us at gunpoint…

The man kept his gun pointed at Nina, but his glare went to Milly. "You want me to stop, you better damn correct her or she'll be the first to go when we start offing all of you!"

"Fine! We'll correct her!" Shirley butted in, likely a little too forcefully.

This is going nowhere a little too fast… Lelouch shifted his weight, ready to draw the JLF member's attention to himself. I might have to use my Geass after all…

A faint noise drew Lelouch's attention to the ceiling. At first, he thought it was nothing. Then the ceiling made the same noise again, only louder. The sound of metal slowly bending… Oh for the love of…! They're climbing around in the ventilation system, aren't they? No wonder they took so long. It's an effective way to get around undetected, but it sounds like it's not holding up too well…

About five seconds later, a section of the ceiling collapsed. While it did so, everyone screamed. Of course, most people would scream if the ceiling collapsed in front of them. Better than on top of them, at least.

"Th-The hell…?"

There were clearly two people inside of the wrecked tile and metal, covered in dust. The man sat up—thank goodness Z.Z. isn't disguised as me yet—blinked a few times, and rubbed the back of his head. "Whoops. I meant to make a much more dignified entrance…"

Instantly both of the JLF members had their guns pointed at the clearly Britannian man. The taller one demanded, "Who the hell are you? How'd you get in here?"

"Me? Oh, I don't matter all that much," Z.Z. said, still rubbing the back of his head; sheepishly now instead of trying to rub away pain. "Nope, not at all. I'm just another member of the Black Knights, after all. The one who really matters here is Zero."

A collective murmur about Zero crossed through the hostages, though not long enough to do much of anything as Z.Z. proceeded to toss a device in the air. It exploded, releasing rose-colored smoke—enough to fill the entire room for at least ten seconds.

You are so lucky that you landed near us, Z.Z. Though, I suppose I'm lucky that I ended up on one of the edges. For that, Lelouch was thankful. He and Kallen didn't have to run over anything to get to the two immortals. From there, it was a matter of how quickly he could hand off his jacket to Z.Z. and receive his mask and cape in return, and how quickly S.S. could hand Kallen her visor and Black Knights' jacket. Yes, Z.Z. and S.S. would temporarily become Lelouch and Kallen, respectively…

Just barely quick enough.

One of the JLF members, still coughing from the smoke, waved his gun in the direction of the masked man. "H-Hey, where'd they—Zero?!" The Japanese man's eyes widened upon seeing the masked hero.

Lelouch bowed to them all, noting the shared feelings of fear and hope amongst the hostages who stared up at him. "That would be correct… Now, if you would kindly take me to speak to Kusakabe, that would be much appreciated. Oh, but first…" He snapped his fingers, the hidden grin on his face growing as the Black Knights simultaneously tore off their disguises, two of them successfully disarming the JLF guards. "That is much better… I simply abhor the abuse of power against those who cannot defend themselves. Q-1, you know what to do." Free the hostages using the rafts, then plant the explosives in the foundation. Once I finish meeting with Kusakabe, we all board the yacht I obtained from that nobleman, and we make our proper debut to the world.

At first, the two guards from the food storage room were his completely unwilling escorts. Then Lelouch used his Geass on them, to make sure they didn't try anything, of course. It was after quite a bit of walking and one ride on the elevator that he was finally face-to-face with Kusakabe for the second time that day, though to the other man, this would be their first meeting.

"Zero? Well, this is an interesting surprise…" Kusakabe narrowed his eyes at the masked man. "Just how did you get in here?"

Lelouch chuckled. "I am a man of miracles." Stage production and a great deal of planning. "I see no reason to tell you how."

"Fair enough, Zero. I assume you've come here to offer me assistance? Come to some sort of agreement? Or perhaps… join the JLF?"

"Absolutely not," he replied harshly. "I cannot—will not—condone actions where the strong oppress the weak." Not to mention you're not doing this with the approval of the JLF, your arrogance irritates me, and I'd never do good serving underneath others—I am meant to lead.

Kusakabe's face instantly turned angry, and his grip tightened on his katana. "Where the strong oppress the weak, you say? But the Britannians are the "strong", we Japanese the "weak". This is not oppression—this is us fighting back against our oppressors! Why don't you see this?"

Such a narrow-minded way of thinking… "All I see is a group of people armed to the teeth taking captive a group of innocent civilians who have no way of protecting themselves. And for what, to bargain for the release of several prisoners? Britannia does not bargain with terrorists, not even if you had the Emperor himself captive." Not like that would ever become a situation in the first place. "You claim to not be the oppressors in this situation, but all I see is a cowardly show of power designed to prove to the world that the Japan Liberation Front was not weak following the whirlwind my first public appearance caused."

"Tch…! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" His katana fully drawn at that point, Kusakabe charged.

Such a waste. His mask slid open, and his eye burned as always. "Die!"

Still watching the news on his phone—though this time with Nunnally listening in—Suzaku felt the world freeze when the entire hotel exploded. No… No… No…! Lelouch… Euphy… and the others…! He fell to his knees in the sand. I failed them… I-I… we all failed them…

"Suzaku, what's going on? What was that explosion?" Nunnally asked, feeling in the air for Suzaku's hand.

"That was… That was the…" He choked up. He couldn't bring himself to say it—that the hotel had gone up in flames with Lelouch still inside of it. That Nunnally was all alone now…

Suddenly, a voice boomed over the entirety of the lake, broadcast through some sort of microphone—and apparently through the news as well. Suzaku looked at his phone for the video—of Zero standing atop a yacht, seven people dressed entirely in black and with visors over their eyes standing behind him.

"I am Zero!" the masked man spoke. "Those of you watching this broadcast right now, you no longer need fear for those who were taken hostage inside the hotel—I rescued them before the explosion!"

He could finally breathe again. His friends… were alright. He could see them in life rafts when the camera briefly panned to the water surrounding the yacht.

"To everyone else, fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit! We are the Black Knights!"

The… Black Knights…? Zero was largely regarded as a terrorist though… He would hardly be a knight…

"We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons to wield… regardless of their nationality!"

So… you'll protect the citizens on both sides now? A smile tried to work its way onto Suzaku's face; Zero really was going to hold up on his end of the bargain, the one about keeping civilians out of this. And he… He saved my friends, too…

"This demonstration of force by the Japan Liberation Front against those innocent Britannian citizens was wanton and meaningless. They have been punished accordingly, just as former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Elevens. We cannot stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out! I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again, no matter how mighty or formidable our foe may be!"

Only the people who are prepared to die should be allowed to kill? Then does that mean you're prepared to die, Zero? Suzaku shook his head. No use thinking about that.

"Those of you with power… fear us!" Zero threw out one arm. "Those of you without it… rally behind us!" He threw out his other arm, cape fluttering in all of its glory. "We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!"

Suzaku was not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, Zero had held up his end of the bargain and protected innocent civilians. And they were Britannians—his friends—to boot. He proclaimed himself and his group, the Black Knights, as allies of the weak and enemies of the strong. On the other hand, he'd given them all quite a scare by blowing up the hotel without them knowing that the hostages had been freed.

A hand tugged at his own—Nunnally's. "Suzaku, do you see my brother yet?"

The hostages were all arriving on shore in groups, and Suzaku could not tell if Lelouch was still on one of the rafts or if he was already on dry ground. It was probably the former—Suzaku didn't doubt that Lelouch would immediately start hunting for Nunnally, and they were in a clear line of sight from what would be his perspective.

"No, not yet…" Suzaku trailed off when he saw a familiar sight of pink amongst the hostages. Euphy… and she was headed right for them. Oh crap… what if she recognizes Nunnally?! Lelouch said that none of his half-siblings could know they were alive… not even Euphy. He slipped his hand out of the crippled girl's grasp and made a frantic gesture towards Sayoko.

The maid somehow understood it, and started wheeling Nunnally away, telling her that she saw Lelouch somewhere else…

"Oh, Suzaku!" The pink-haired princess seemed… even happier than normal, though there were tears in her eyes. She'd even grabbed Suzaku by the hands and made him spin around. Why, though? Her life had just been in danger… It didn't seem like the JLF had figured out who she was, but still!

"What is it Euphy?"

"Lelouch is alive! I… It had to be him! He… He looked right at me and it just has to be him! I would recognize those eyes anywhere!" She tried to dry her tears, but they just kept coming. "I… I always hoped… I mean, I know I saw their bodies, but… Ah! Does that mean Nunnally is alive too?! Oh, I hope so!"

She… saw Lelouch? Then… I suppose I can't hide it anymore. "You're right, Euphy. Lelouch and Nunnally… they're both alive. They've been hiding at Ashford Academy… I'm sorry I had to keep that a secret from you."

Euphy looked at him, completely still for a moment. She looked… almost betrayed. "You… knew…?" She shook her head before pulling Suzaku into a tight hug. "I don't care! I'm just… I'm so happy they're alright…"

"In other words, your wish was granted!" S.S. appeared behind Euphy—from the shore; why was she down there if Zero was on that yacht that got away?—her smile as bright as ever. It faded for a moment as she scratched her chin. "Well… one of them, and only partially, but who really cares? Your precious half-siblings aren't dead!"

"Did you know they weren't—"

Suzaku cut Euphy off when he grabbed her arm, shaking his head while staring at the blonde woman, accomplice of Zero. "S.S., I'm afraid I have orders to bring you in for questioning. You can come with me willingly, or I'll have to arrest you…"

S.S. cocked her head to the side. "Do you really…? But isn't having your wish granted a lot better than asking me a bunch of lame questions?"

"They aren't lame, S.S. We know you're one of Zero's accomplices—just like your brother was—and Viceroy Cornelia wants to ask you what you know about him." She also wants you executed once she thinks you've told her everything, but how am I supposed to say that?

"About Zero?" She pouted, her arms folded over her chest. "Aw… but Big Brother told me not to say anything about him… much as I'd like to. He's a really awesome guy, just like Z.Z. is!"

…'Is'…? Either S.S. had no idea that her brother was dead… or what Zero had said before was right—that Z.Z. really wasn't dead. An impossibility like that, though… "I'm afraid you're going to have to answer the Viceroy's questions, regardless of what your brother said," Suzaku said.

"But Z.Z. said not to—" S.S. cut off her own protest. "Oh, dang it! You've gone and distracted me! I came over here to grant your wish, Suzaku!" She paused, holding out a hand. For once, she looked entirely serious. "Or, to be more precise, I'm going to grant you the power to grant it yourself. A power called Geass…"

Author's Note Part 2:

Oh yeah, I totally just went there. S.S.'s going to just keep causing a ton of trouble when she goes off on her own, isn't she?

Suzaku with a Geass though…

Please review! And you guys should keep leaving suggestions, too! MM Browsing inspired several bits of this chapter, so really anyone can!

Suggestion corner: So I feel like spreading the love around (seriously, this story has over 200 reviews and 8,000 views; I can spare the love), and I've decided to start suggesting stories for people to read, one story per chapter until I run out of stories to recommend. Some of these stories might already be extremely popular, others might be, well, not. Just like the one I am going to recommend now: "Code Geass: The Disowned Prince" by lilysmiya. She has only just started the story, and the chapters are rather short at the beginning, but I think that her story deserves some more attention.

…Also, shameless self-advertising here, but if you guys want to see precisely what I deal with when it comes to controlling my muses, you can go check out a one-shot I posted called "Muses". Trust me, you don't need to know anything about Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds to read it, it'll probably give you a good laugh, and it references this story like, a lot.

Oh! I almost forgot! I'm trying to figure out what characters I can and cannot kill without having people quit reading my story and/or wanting to kill me because, you know, this is a Code Geass fanfiction… people kinda have to die. So when you guys leave a review this time… I'd like you to leave me a list of one to five characters you'd be perfectly fine with me killing off. I'd prefer it if you gave me people from both sides… oh, and don't say Charles, Luciano, or V.V. (I'm pretty sure no one wants them alive).